One Pot Pasta

I've learned by now never to underestimate Martha. I used to scoff at her perfect domestication persona in my youth, but not anymore. She is now a go-to for recipes and has really neat stuff in her magazines.  So, I saw this on Pinterest and in her latest magazine and made it the other night. You can do a lot with it and it is so easy. As usual, I had to season it up, but in a pinch this is a good one. We also substituted regular pasta for quinoa pasta for gluten free and it was just as good.

One Pot Pasta

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with a Lemon Sage Brown Butter Sauce

This meal would have been really successful if the shells hadn't overcooked a bit in the oven. The directions are brief, so they don't explain how to not let this happen, but maybe you know! I switched out ricotta for the vegan ricotta I found at the store, added some other veggies, along with chopped, toasted walnuts and this was really good. The crispy sage in the butter (margarine) was so good! I love having fresh herbs from our garden. This dinner ended up being about 70% local from our community market, so that felt nice also.

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with a Lemon Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto and Penne

I have made this a few times now and it is another quick and easy meal. I like to add more to the pesto to give it more flavor. My favorite is to add toasted walnuts both in the pesto and crumbled on top. But lots of experimentation can be done here!
Roasted Red Pepper Pesto